Oh boy, can I ever relate to what you have written? Most of the time, I don't feel or care about most things. I used to be a funny, happy, lovable woman, but not so much now. I really only seem to care about what happens to animals. I am vegan because I cannot bear what happens to farm animals. I have been going through withdrawal symptoms myself trying to get off of the meds. I have been doing this with my Dr's help too. It is very hard and you must do it gradually as your body is used to having this medication all the time. Don't go cold turkey, it is very dangerous and just not a good idea. Sex, what is that? It has been so long for me, I think I have forgotten it. I too do not get excited about anything anymore. I just don't care. I used to be such a happy go lucky woman who always wanted to help others, but not now. I would rather stay home. I wish you well and keep in touch.

Hi, @missjill87. I wanted to add my welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Sounds like you are having a challenging time in the midst of a time you'd like to feel "up" and excited. Congratulations on the upcoming wedding, by the way!

If you not gotten a chance yet to read through more of this thread on going off Effexor/venlafaxine, I would encourage you to do so. I believe you will find quite a number of members who've walked down similar paths with going cold turkey off this medication or tapering too fast.

You especially may want to take a look at this Mayo Clinic pharmacist's input on going off Effexor/venlafaxine, here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/83750/bookmark/?ajax_hook=action&_wpnonce=67744af13f

Have you considered calling your doctor to help you through a taper plan (this may involve going back on the medication at some dosage to then slowly go back down) so that going off the medication might have fewer withdrawal symptoms?

Thank you @lisalucier. I would love to feel excited as every woman should planning a wedding. But I feel everything other and maybe its just more overwhelming, the planning aspect, but that shouldn't matter. I feel the real me would be more excited, more into the planning, more into everything. I just wanted to be the real me even if i was a little bi polar and moody at times. Right now seeing as I have not taken my meds.. I feel almost out of my body, in a fog and not really wanting to do anything. I need to do something, take them again and ween myself off slowly because I feel awful. I have the extended release capsules. Can I just break them apart and empty half of the little beads inside?

@missjill87

I suppose that dividing the granuals could work, but I'm not a doctor. I advise you to speak with the pharmacist about what you can do safely to reduce the Effexor. Extended release pills are very different from regular ones. Be careful.

Jim

I talked with my doctor about reducing my dosage of Effexor xr (venlafaxine) from 150mg to 75mg. He told me it would take a few months to accomplish the reduction as planned. Remembering my bad experiences last time I tried to get off of Effexor, I decided to try my own method. Today is day 6. I have been opening the capsules and reducing the number of pellets by a few more each day. Today I removed 45 pellets. (There are approx. 115-125 pellets in a 75mg capsule and 60 pellets in a 37.5mg capsule). So far, so good. I've had a few body twitches and a slight headache, but I'm happy with that. By Saturday, I plan to have my overall dosage reduced by 37.5 mg. I'll stay at 112.5 mg for a few weeks before I attempt the same process to reduce by another 37.5 mg. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. This is a day by day experiment.

@arachel Even though it has been long ago I recall doing the same thing and how thankful I was the medication was in capsules. We all experience the "weaning" at a different pace. Good for you in listening to your body. Doing so too quickly can be traumatic.
Kudos and keep us posted. I suspect many have been here.

Thank you for the vote of confidence. I appreciate the feed back. I'll definitely keep posting as things progress.

Hi, @missjill87 -- seems like you are very self-aware and cognizant that this is not the "real you" right at this moment with coming off the Effexor/venlafaxine cold turkey, and that seems like a healthy place to be mentally. For me personally, I was excited about my wedding, but honestly I can't say event planning like is needed for a wedding is my favorite activity. I was pretty glad when all that planning/business part was over and we could get on with the fun of being married.

I agree that talking to a pharmacist or your doctor would be wise in order to have a plan for tapering that has some experience/data behind it so that you can have the best chance of a smooth process of going off the medication. You deserve things to be smooth right now so you can enjoy this period of your life.

How are you feeling today?